White Sox: Answering the key questions from Spring Training 2018
By Jeff Shirk
Back in mid-February, I published a post “White Sox Real Questions for Spring Training 2018″.
As the White Sox look to open the season, I thought it might be entertaining to revisit those questions and see what answers emerged.
I’ll post each question as it appeared in that post, followed by the emerged answer. Here goes – this should be fun.
#1: Who wins the center-field job?
The outcome will reveal a lot about the 2018 Sox. Do they emphasize defense and range to help their young pitchers? Do they look for more of an offensive contributor, or do they use a platoon of players to hold the position down in this year of low expectations? My hunch is the team will have plenty of offense and that stellar defense and speed on the basepaths will be prioritized. Leury Garcia may be opening day starter, but the future center fielder may be Adam Engel or Charlie Tilson – and this may be revealed if either performs well in spring training.
ANSWER – Adam Engel won this contest authoritatively and showed why he was the MVP of the 2016 Arizona Fall League. Engel is the real deal, and it appears for 2018 his offensive skills may have caught up to his defensive. It will be fascinating to see if he further develops what conundrum the White Sox may face between him and emerging future talent Luis Robert.